I document my various outings of rock climbing in Newfoundland. A group of us are developing new sport climbing and trad climbing area's around the Avalon Peninsula. I like to share photo's of the new climbing route with overlay of topos. I also publish photos of established rock climbing areas with route descriptions.

Monday, March 19, 2007

Food for thought on the Gri-Gri

I posted an incident of how I was accidentally dropped a couple of weeks ago. This was secondary to improper use of the Gri-Gri. I posted a link to the Petzl website concerning the proper use of the Gri-Gri for lead belay.

Last night Leo told me that he was going give a free course on a standardized way of using the Gri-Gri for lead belay. It was not the way recommended by Petzl!!! I was initially concerned. I listened to his argument but I was not totally won over. I came across a different source concerning the use of a Gri-Gri for lead belay that supported Leo's argument. This is the page;

Regardless, I have been climbing on and off since 1995 (steady for the last 5 years) and I have never heard of a failed belay with the use of a tube belay device (ieATC). My fall was the third failure of belay in St. John's using a Gri-Gri. I am not saying it is unsafe, but I will say it is a lot harder to lead belay. Be EXTREMELY cautious when learning to belay with the Gri-Gri and going to Leo's information session should be at the top of your 'to do' list.

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About Me

I am 46 and I have been rock climbing for about 14 years. I climb mostly moderate sport climbs. I do enjoy a bit of trad climbing. I would say one of my biggest interests in climbing is developing. There is tons of potential spots for climbing around St. John's and I like finding them and developing them with my climbing partners.